Bicyclists Raise Money for AIDS Research

A 400-mile bicycle ride from Montreal to Portland, Maine, will likely surpass the $4.1 million raised during a similar fund-raiser for AIDS research last year in Alaska, organizers said. More than 1,800 bicyclists completed the five-day ride, which ended Sunday in Deering Oaks. The ride began in Montreal and included a grueling uphill stretch through Vermont's Green Mountains. The event is the third such event that Pallotta TeamWorks, a for-profit California firm, has produced this year.

"I'm not sure what kept me going, frankly," Jill Copeland, 43, said after she crossed the finish line at Deering Oaks. Copeland, who is a social worker, raised $5,000. Money from the event will go to researchers Dr. Irvin Chen of the AIDS Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles; Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center; and Dr. Rafi Ahmed of the Emory Vaccine Center. The event was a major undertaking with overnight stops in Burlington and Wells, VT; Concord, NH; and Wells, ME. Nearly 400 volunteers catered to bicyclists, set up tents and served meals. More than 150 motor vehicles accompanied the bicyclists, including six tractor-trailers that carried mobile kitchens and six buses that carried crewmembers and exhausted riders.

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